Return to Transcripts main page

The Brief with Jim Sciutto

Israeli Strikes Target Hamas Leaders In Qatar; Qatari Refutes U.S. Claim It Was Warned Before Israeli Strike; WH Denies "Birthday Book" Signatures; Deadly Protests In Nepal; Nepal Lifts Social Media Ban After Deadly Protests; Apple Introduces New Lines Of iPhones; Tejasvi Manoj Is Time's "Kid Of The Year". Aired 6-7p ET

Aired September 09, 2025 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[18:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. And

you're watching "The Brief."

Just ahead this hour, Israeli strikes target Hamas leadership in Doha. Qatar's government says it reserves the right now to respond. Government

buildings in Nepal are set on fire after protesters forced the prime minister there to resign. And we'll talk to Time's new Kid of the Year, a

teenager who's working to protect seniors from cyber scams. All that and much more coming up.

We do begin with Israel facing condemnation in the Middle East and beyond over an audacious strike targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar, where mediation

in the Gaza ceasefire talks was taking place at the time.

You hear them there, explosions ringing out in a residential area of the Qatari capital, Doha, earlier. The Israeli military calls it a precision

strike involving some 10 Israeli fighter jets. A CNN producer on the scene says it appears that the center of the targeted building has collapsed.

Hamas says the strike killed five members, failed, however, they say, to assassinate the negotiating team.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced Monday's shooting in Jerusalem as he took responsibility for that strike in Qatar, claiming that

it could somehow bring peace in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This action can open the door to an end of the war, end of the war in Gaza. Israel has accepted the

principals -- the proposal put forward by President Trump to end the war, beginning with the immediate release of all our hostages, which have been

held in the dungeons of Gaza for 700 days. If President Trump's proposal is accepted, the war can end immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Condemnation of the strike has been swift. The Qatari prime minister, who said the U.S. contacted them 10 minutes after the attack

occurred, called it an act of, quote, "state terrorism."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN AL THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER AND FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): International laws will take into

consideration such an incident, because we're doing something that violated the sovereignty of our state carelessly, without any care. This, we can't

look away from what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: The UAE is calling the Israeli strike, quote, "treacherous." Iran calls it savage aggression. Turkey commenting that it shows Israel does not

want peace. Here in Washington, the White House said the strike runs counter to President Donald Trump's objectives in the region. Notable

disagreement there. President Trump posted on Truth Social that it was not his call. Quote, "This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu. It

was not a decision made by me," he wrote.

CNN's Becky Anderson is in Doha. And, Becky, you have a strike here right in the middle of Doha, a city you know well, a mostly residential area

here. I wonder, when Qatari officials say they reserve the right to respond, should we take that seriously?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR, CONNECT THE WORLD: I think we should. Look, I mean, you join me here in the -- in this small Gulf nation, which, to

describe it tonight as shocked and, frankly, angry would be an understatement. And that tone reflected by the Qatari prime minister, who

is also the foreign minister here, when he addressed journalists just an hour or so ago, describing this attack by Israel on Hamas leadership, right

in the center of Doha, in a residential area where Hamas leadership are hosted, at the request of the U.S., as far as Qatar is concerned.

[18:05:00]

He described this as state terrorism. He said that this was a message from Israel to the region. And he said they are a rogue party in this region.

And he said this is a message to the world that there is a bully in this region. And that is Israel.

Look, there are a whole load of unanswered questions tonight. What we do know is that this residential building hosting Hamas leadership, who were

in the midst of negotiations with Qatar, who are a lead mediator and have been for the past, what, 22 months, in trying to get a ceasefire and

hostage deal across the line.

I spoke to sources here this time last night, just after the Qatari prime minister had had lengthy discussions with Khalil al-Khair, who heads up

that Hamas delegation here. And he, I was told, had put an awful lot of pressure on Hamas to respond positively to the latest U.S. initiative to

try and get these hostages released and end this war. And I was told at the time, the next 24 to 48 hours would be crucial.

What nobody expected, not here, and it seems not in the States as well, and we can discuss that, was that this sovereign nation would be attacked by

Israel in such, as you describe it, an audacious manner. So, as I say, to suggest that this is a nation shocked and very angry tonight, and

considering its next move is perhaps understandable.

Let's remind ourselves, this is a country that is a key U.S. ally. It has the biggest U.S. base in this region of the Middle East, the Al Udeid base,

which has more than 10,000 U.S. military on site. This is the head of CENTCOM, U.S. CENTCOM for this region. And this was an attack -- and the

prime minister was asked about this. This was an attack that seemingly was launched without warning to Qatar. Qatar say that they only knew about this

attack from U.S. officials 10 minutes after it happened, and it was an attack that went under the radar of Qatar air defenses. One Qatari security

guard on that premise, where Hamas are hosted as residents here killed.

As we understand it, the key leadership avoided death. This was an assassination attempt to all intents and purposes by Israel. A number of

lower-level Hamas representatives apparently were killed, according to Hamas. But Khalil al-Khaya not killed, as far as we understand it. Nothing

from the Qataris on that, though they did say that this one security guard was killed, a local Qatari security guard who was securing that premises,

and others -- other Qataris were injured in this. So, yes, they have said that they are considering their next move, and we will wait to hear what

that is.

This region, as you can understand it, Jim, this region of the Gulf, very specifically, extremely shocked. I've spoken to sources around the region

tonight. I would expect to see representatives from at least the GCC coming here at some point very soon to show their support. There have been

statements of support very quickly. Speedy condemnations from countries around this region, many of whom have said this only escalates, this action

by Israel escalates a conflict. They see nothing in this to suggest that Israel is looking for peace at this point.

And you have to wonder, in the midst of these negotiations, Jim, at the behest of the U.S., a U.S. initiative, which, as we understand it, would

have resulted in the release of all the hostages in the first instance, and the negotiations to end this conflict are off to all intents and purposes

at the moment.

SCIUTTO: Yes. I mean, if you attack the negotiators --

ANDERSON: The prime minister said this wasn't a time to talk about those, correct.

SCIUTTO: If you attack the negotiators in the midst of those negotiations, one might imagine an impact. Becky Anderson in Doha, thanks so much.

[18:10:00]

Joining us now, Jonathan Conricus. He's a former spokesperson for IDF, now a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy's co-founder

as well of BottomLine Media. Joining me now from Tel Aviv. Jonathan, good to have you back. Thanks for joining.

JONATHAN CONRICUS, FORMER IDF SPOKESPERSON, SENIOR FELLOW, FOUNDATION FOR THE DEFENSE DEMOCRACIES AND CO-FOUNDER, BOTTOMLINE MEDIA: Thank you for

having me. Shalom.

SCIUTTO: Can we conclude from this that the Israeli prime minister is not genuinely interested in negotiations at this point? Because we have seen

similar attacks, although not quite as dramatic as this one, given it was a strike inside Doha, at other sensitive points in the negotiations.

CONRICUS: No, I wouldn't be able to make that logical connection. My connection is and what I think is happening is that Israel is, you know,

maybe two years too late or a year and a half too late, is finally bringing justice to terrorists. And these are not peaceful negotiators or

politicians, these are Hamas terrorists with lots of blood on their hands, who facilitated and made the October 7 murder and atrocities of Israelis

possible through their dealings with Qatar, through financing and political support that they were able to gather in the region. And these are serious

Hamas terrorists who currently were in the safe haven -- what they thought was a safe haven.

And what Israel is doing is just delivering justice to the terrorists who planned. And according to Israeli reports, including the hostage

negotiations team, these Hamas foreign leaders were not conducive or positive in the negotiations. And they were actually obstructing and not

applying pressure on Hamas to accept President Trump's proposal. And they were in the way of getting a deal done, a deal that I think Israel wants

pretty desperately, instead of going on with the war and having to go in and conquer what's left of Gaza City.

SCIUTTO: Well, if that's true, then why would the U.S. president, who consistently backs Israel, make a point of saying publicly this was not his

call? I mean, he said -- and he said in that same statement, I'm paraphrasing, that the U.S. focuses on getting a deal done and getting

hostages, some of whom are, as you know, U.S. national's home. Why that public daylight between the Israeli and U.S. leaders?

CONRICUS: You know, Jim, I read it a bit differently. And when I look at the military situation, Qatari airspace is defended by the United States of

America. I find it extremely difficult to imagine that an attack of this magnitude, a strike in Doha, would be done by Israel, not just without

approval but -- or sorry, not just without telling the Americans, but actually having American high-level approval ahead of time.

It's a heavily defended airspace with some of the best weapon systems in the world. I don't think this happened -- this wasn't, you know, a rogue

Israeli action. And I would suggest everybody watching and thinking and assessing the situation here to remember what the global opinion was

regarding negotiations with Iran by the U.S. before the war of the 12 days between Israel and Iran, and how surprised many were with what people,

perhaps wishful thinking, thought that there was daylight between the U.S. and Israel. But then the Iranians were surprised, and many others were

surprised that there really wasn't daylight.

And I would suggest people do apply the same logic here. I think that the U.S. and Israel are communicating on the same wavelength here. I think that

time ran out for Hamas terrorists in Gaza. I think that maybe, and this is totally my personal assessment, maybe the Qataris have not been delivering

as President Trump expected them to deliver. I think President Trump has been very clear. I've been reading his messages. He wants the war in Gaza

to end. He wants the suffering to end and he wants the hostages home. Maybe he thought that the Qataris were not doing a good enough effort to apply

pressure on Hamas to get that deal done. That could also be a case. And maybe this could be a signal.

SCIUTTO: Does the Israeli prime minister want the war in Gaza to end? Because, as you know, some of his own former senior advisers question that.

They say he wants to continue the war there with, perhaps, they say, his own interests at heart. And you have senior military leaders who question

the military function of continuing those operations there and saying that a ceasefire and getting the hostages home should be the priority now. Does

Netanyahu want to end the war in Gaza?

CONRICUS: I don't know. I'm not affiliated with him. He's not an -- I'm not an adviser of his. What I think is -- you know, what we can judge are the

actions. And so, far, what I see is an Israeli prime minister that is ordering the military, through the cabinet, to defeat an enemy and win a

war. And so far, that to me seems like the logical thing to do.

[18:15:00]

My criticism is that it's taken too long time and we should have had this done and dusted a while ago. But I think that, you know, looking at it, if

it hadn't been Israel, I think we would have been addressing the issue differently. But I think now we're moving in a right direction.

What Israel is doing is trying to apply pressure, full court pressure on Hamas on the ground in Gaza but now adding Doha, Qatar to the pressure

here. And if you listen to Israeli messaging and what I think the clip that you had the Israeli prime minister just a few minutes ago, Israel is saying

almost pleading with Hamas, take the deal, let's end the war, bring us our people back and we can find a solution to the situation here because we do

want to end the war.

Israel is showing seriousness by placing forces there and preparing for a maneuver in Gaza and now amplifying the pressure by taking out -- hopefully

taking out Hamas leadership terrorists in Doha. But at the end of the day, if Hamas -- what's left of Hamas' leadership say, OK, we get it and we

understand that it's time to wrap and they take a deal, the war would end very quickly.

SCIUTTO: Why then in the midst of this are -- do you have Israeli officials pushing for annexing the West Bank? Is that going to help bring an end to

the war in Gaza?

CONRICUS: No, I don't think so. And I think that's more a response, kind of angry response by Israeli legislators, also driven by Israeli popular

opinion, to what I think are pretty reckless and naive statements made by important countries around the world like France and the U.K., Australia,

Canada saying that they're going to recognize the so-called Palestinian State. And I think that's the Israeli response to those statements, which I

think those statements, if we speak about anything, they are very unhelpful.

I think what they have done cumulatively is to embolden Hamas, to strengthen Hamas, and to make Hamas believe that they can actually stay

around and fight it out here and that they have global support and that in September Israel is going to fold and they're going to get their way both

kill Israelis and launch October 7 attack and then also get recognition as the armed faction that brought statehood to Palestinians, which is how this

will go if indeed there's a Palestinian State as a result. Hamas will be the victor. And Israel isn't going to let that happen no matter how many

important countries say and declare.

And I think it's tragic that these countries have said so. And what you're seeing and referring to I think is much more an Israeli response, kind of

angry response more than really policy. The last week and a half there have not been any meetings by the cabinet or headed by the prime minister on

this topic, I would still classify it as declarative and not a real hardcore policy. But if the situation deteriorates and if European powers

do different things then maybe Israel will respond differently.

SCIUTTO: Not the first time it's been proposed as you know. Jonathan Conricus, thanks for staying up late for us in Tel Aviv.

CONRICUS: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Joining me now for a U.S. perspective, Daniel Benaim, former deputy assistant secretary of state for Arabian Peninsula Affairs. So, you

heard Jonathan Conricus' description of Israelis approach -- the Israeli approach to these talks. Do you see serious interest by the Israeli prime

minister in a negotiated end of this war?

DANIEL BENAIM, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE, ARABIAN PENINSULA AFFAIRS AND ASSOCIATE FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Well, I

think they're certainly trying to put as much pressure as they can on Hamas, but what's much less clear is how this actually connects to a

diplomatic process or any other kind of process that ends the war. It seems quite disconnected from any real objectives that would push to an end for

the war.

SCIUTTO: Is there daylight between Trump and Netanyahu here? And I know to Jonathan's point, I mean people have claimed daylight where there wasn't

daylight before or they proved closer, you know, over time, but you do have the president deliberate -- quite deliberately saying, this was not my

call.

BENAIM: Well, I think there's a lot of opacity when it comes to what exactly Donald Trump knew when and certainly, you know, that airspace over

CENTCOM in Qatar is well defended by the United States. SCIUTTO: Well monitored.

BENAIM: And well monitored. So, I think there's there's more information there that we'll have to find out. But he did put out that statement saying

this wasn't my call and that the use of Qatar was unfortunate. And I think in its own way, in a year of pretty shocking Israeli military moves, from

exploding pagers to drone bases inside Iran, this is another really exceptionally bold step. This is a country that Donald Trump visited four

months ago and has a good relationship with, the largest air base in the Middle East.

[18:20:00]

And truly this -- the fact is we've been engaged in diplomacy to try to bring this this war to an end using the Qatari good offices. So, I do think

that the surprise there -- it's hard to know exactly how surprised American officials were at the hours that this happened, but I take them at their --

at face value when they say that it's unfortunate that it happened in Qatar.

SCIUTTO: What is the Trump administration policy as relates to the war in Gaza? Because Trump at different times has said, time for Israel to end

this war. I mean, he said that quite publicly as well. He seemed to be expressing some impatience. He has said that there is a humanitarian crisis

there. But then on other days, it seems like he endorses whatever Israel does to whatever degree it does. Does -- is the U.S. policy clear?

BENAIM: I don't think it is clear. I think you've got a real tension there. On the one hand, there is support for Israel against Hamas and against a

certain degree of international pressure. On the other hand, the president does really -- has suggested publicly that he wants to end this war, has

sent his envoy out with proposals to end this war. And in fact, it was during one of those rounds of talks, for the second time now we've had a

round of diplomatic talks that were kind of interrupted by an Israeli military strike.

SCIUTTO: Doesn't that speak to this being an actual difference between Trump and Netanyahu if he was sending his guys to go talk and they dropped

bombs in Doha?

BENAIM: It is so hard to speculate about what the Trump guys knew exactly when. But he did come out quite publicly and say this wasn't my call. And I

think that the use of Qatar was regrettable. He seems to have a good relationship with the Qataris.

SCIUTTO: Does this -- I mean, you hear the Qataris protest. You hear UAE and others protest this. Is that genuine and do they follow through on that

protest? Is this the makings of a real break between those Gulf states and Israel?

BENAIM: You know, I don't think it's like the makings of a real break. And Qatar does not have a lot of recourse beyond -- they can go to the U.N. and

argue that their sovereignty has been violated. But I do think this kind of thing casts a really long shadow in the Gulf.

Qatar was attacked by Iran for hosting our forces three months ago during the Israel-Iran war. And now, they've been attacked by Israel for hosting

Hamas for these diplomatic talks. I think Gulf leaders are focused on their own economies. They're focused on diversifying their economies, building

their own economic miracles inside their territories. And when you see a Gulf city smoldering and smoking on international TV, that's not the

message that they're trying to send.

I think earlier this year, some might have thought that Trump would have raced to try to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which

is still one of the big prizes that are out there -- that's out there. But Israeli strikes like these on the Gulf really push further from that goal

and in many ways, show just how far away we already are over these eight months from where we were previously.

SCIUTTO: That's a good point. Daniel Benaim, thanks so much for joining. Just ahead, the White House distances President Trump from a second image

taken from Jeffrey Epstein's so-called birthday book. Details on a photo of a giant check bearing Donald Trump's name. Just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

SCIUTTO: The White House is now trying to distance President Trump from a second image taken from Jeffrey Epstein's so-called birthday book. It shows

the late convicted pedophile holding a novelty check made to look like a payment from Trump for a, quote, "fully depreciated woman." You heard that

right. We don't know the full context of the photo, posted by House Democrats. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had this to say

about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Did you see the signature on that check? It is not Donald Trump's signature. It is absolutely not. The

president did not sign that check.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Her response echoes the White House's reaction to a letter bearing Trump's name. This one there with that shape of a woman's body saying that

also is not Trump's signature. For more on this, I'm joined by Kristen Holmes. I mean, listen, I wonder if Republicans are buying Trump's denials

here, right? Because, you know, we use this phrase drip, drip, drip, which can be overused. But we are seeing that in real time here, right? I mean,

the files keep producing stories and documents and so on. And you have parts of his base and commentators in his base calling for more

information. What's the strategy?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, Jim, they are still calling for more information. They want to see any kind of

information that the Department of Justice has on this case be released.

When it comes to these specific documents, I mean, we already heard from the head of the Oversight Committee, James Comer, a Republican, who said

that he takes President Trump at his word, that if he says it wasn't him that signed this document, that it's not him and the Oversight Committee

probably won't be doing any kind of research or looking into this signature at all to see if it was forged.

We heard Karoline Leavitt today expand on this denial, again, just continuing to double down, saying that it was forged, that it's not him.

Also, at one point saying that Donald Trump's signature is one of the most famous signatures in the world, that anyone could have put it on this

document. So, they're not shying away from that.

And in fact, Karoline Leavitt said that we would see, we being the general public, would see Trump's lawyer arguing this in court. He has obviously

sued The Wall Street Journal, as we've reported, over the fact that they published this letter first, or at least the contents of this letter first,

and they are not dropping that lawsuit now that this letter has been published among these documents.

The other interesting thing that Leavitt noted was that she said there was no meeting in the works for Trump to meet with the survivors or anyone, it

appears, to meet with the survivors from the administration. The reason why I point that out is because when those survivors were on Capitol Hill, they

were encouraging the president to meet with them to hear their stories. All of this focused around the idea that President Trump has continued to call

this a Democratic hoax. They were pushing back, obviously, as survivors, that this storyline was a hoax.

Now, Leavitt did try to clarify what exactly they were talking about when they used this language, Democratic hoax, saying that it wasn't about the

case itself, but it was about the fact that Democrats sat on this information for years, that nobody brought it up when Joe Biden was

president of the United States, that they're bringing this up essentially just to smear Donald Trump.

But one thing remains clear, in all of this, they're still talking about it. They've been talking about it for months. They're still trying to

defend it. They're still trying to explain it away. And the reason is because people, as you mentioned, in their own base are still pushing for

more information. There is an enormous amount of interest in this story, and that is not going away anytime soon.

So, as these documents continue to come out, as information continues to come out, there are going to be more questions for this administration, for

this president.

SCIUTTO: Kristen Holmes, thanks so much. Coming up on "The Brief," Nepal in crisis. The latest on the country's massive and ongoing anti-government

protests led by young people that have now forced its prime minister to resign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. Here are the international headlines we're watching today.

Israel has escalated its war with Hamas well beyond Gaza. Carried out a surprise airstrike against the group's leadership in Qatar, a country that

served as a key moderator in the ongoing ceasefire talks. Hamas said the strike killed five members. However, failed to assassinate the negotiating

delegation. The Qatari prime minister acknowledging a short time ago that the attack has changed the landscape of those talks.

French President Emmanuel Macron has asked his defense minister to lead a new government. Sebastien Lecornu will be France's fifth prime minister in

less than two years. His main challenges will be to try to pass a budget, overcome dwindling public trust. Nationwide protests are planned for

Wednesday.

A federal charge has been filed over the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee on a commuter train in Charlotte, North Carolina. 34-year-old

Decarlos Brown has been charged with causing death on a mass transportation system. If convicted, he could face a death penalty. The 23-year-old victim

was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack inside a light rail car last month. The image is just shocking.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says a Russian attack targeting civilians should trigger global condemnation. The attack in the Eastern

Ukrainian town of Yarova killed at least 24 people and injured more than a dozen others. The victims were retirees lined up to pick up their

government pensions.

Nick Paton Walsh has the story. We must warn you, as with so many stories from Ukraine during the war, many of the images are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It is short and ghastly to watch, but tells you all you need to know. More than 20 bodies, their civilian clothes ripped away. Pensioners

gathered to collect the monthly payouts that kept them alive in war-torn Donetsk. Likely, a 250-pound aerial bomb did this to a gathering under the

trees in Yarova.

[18:35:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I would like at least to take him home, at least to bury him.

WALSH (voice-over): There are two moments here we can show you that bring the callousness home. This Ukrainian post-service fan, distinctively

civilian, even from a drone high above, and these two children's yellow slides, a highly visible warning not to strike. Ukraine's Zelenskyy, clear

yet again what this means.

It is terrible there is not enough strong reaction from global actors, he said. This is exactly what Putin perceives as permission to continue the

war.

The dust had barely settled from the weekend's record assault. The Ukrainian prime minister, with the remarkable task Monday of showing

Western diplomats around the ruins of the key government offices her team frequents, hit by a Russian cruise missile intercepted.

President Trump has said a lot since the record attack on Sunday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready to move to the second phase of sanctions against Russia or punishing Putin?

WALSH (voice-over): But also, that he'd speak to Putin soon and European leaders could visit yesterday or Tuesday, none of this has happened yet.

Drones dictating the frontlines, here Ukrainians hunted by them. Russia is advancing and looks set for another key push in the east. Ukraine short on

people and the ferocity of support it seeks.

This bus hit on a key road to the east by a Russian drone, a sign another main highway is lost. Space for free Ukraine shrinking.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: And civilians once again the target. Well, chaotic scenes in Nepal as angry anti-government protests escalate there. Demonstrators set fire to

the country's parliament building and attacked the home of the now ousted Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who resigned in the face of these protests on

Tuesday.

The demonstrations have been led by young people angry about widespread corruption, lack of job opportunities and an aborted government attempt to

ban social media. An online movement against Nepo kids, politicians' children showing off their lavish lifestyles, has also fueled public anger.

About 20 people have died since the protests began.

Rumela Sen is a lecturer at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. Thanks so much for joining.

RUMELA SEN, LECTURER, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Thank you for having me, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Given we've seen similar youth-led protests bring down governments in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, are we seeing the same here? I mean, could

these protests bring down the government?

SEN: Yes, I mean, I think it already has because the Prime Minister has sort of agreed on the newspapers so far that he has abandoned the country

and has fled Nepal. There are a lot of parallels with Bangladesh, particularly because the issue here is also corruption and Nepo kids, as

you were mentioning.

So, even on social media, in fact, the protesters are collaborating live with the protesters in Bangladesh and Indonesia, sort of exchanging notes

on what worked and what didn't.

SCIUTTO: The army is now moving in. Is there a peaceful resolution that come out of this or are we more likely to see the violence escalate?

SEN: You know, when this first started, most of the observers of Nepal did not think that this will escalate so much. It sort of is an indication that

the political institutions and the leaderships have completely failed in managing this conflict. So, it's kind of hard to predict how bad it can

get.

But, you know, in terms of possibilities, there is a possibility that there could be a coalition government in Nepal. Nepal has had several coalition

governments before, you know, in order to restore legitimacy into the Democratic institutions. I'm sort of hopeful that this is a possibility

because over the last 10 years of democracy in Nepal, there was some solid progress made in participation, representation, institution building.

So, there is some hope that those Democratic institutions would now be the option that the leaders would be able to choose and protect. But that will

not be a happy outcome for the protesters. I think they're seeking some kind of radical change. You know, the country had a Maoist uprising and

insurgency and the end of monarchy, a lot of things in the not very distant past.

So, I think the protesters would want some radical display of accountability, new laws, new -- holding these leaders accountable. So, we

don't know.

[18:40:00]

And the third possibility could be return of monarchy, because earlier this year there were some protests in the streets where people were actually

demanding return of the royal family in Nepal, and simply because they have lost all faith in democracy and the democracy hasn't served them well.

SCIUTTO: Momentous events there, Rumela Sen, thanks for helping us understand them. Appreciate it.

SEN: Thank you for having me.

SCIUTTO: In technology, Apple has unveiled its latest iPhone, the thinnest iPhone yet. It says prices will remain largely the same despite rising

tariffs. We're going to talk to a tech expert for his thoughts, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." Wall Street finished Tuesday at yet more record highs on hopes that the revised job numbers, which showed a lot

fewer jobs were created than previously reported, will force the Fed now to cut rates. The U.S. lowered by more than 900,000, the number of jobs

created during the 12 months ending in March this year. Revisions are common. They happen every year. They're often sizable, but this one was

big.

Last year, job gains revised downward by almost 600,000 in the final report. Even so, the news gave the White House a new opportunity to attack

the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the department that puts out the data. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt complained that, in her words,

the BLS is broken.

Of course, they celebrated numbers when they were good. After the closing bell, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hear arguments over the

legality of President Trump's tariffs on what for the court is a fast-track basis. The court will begin oral arguments in November after many of

Trump's tariffs were struck down by lower courts.

In other business news, Apple today unveiled its first new line of iPhones since President Trump's tariff hikes. Among the new models is the iPhone

Air billed as the company's thinnest model yet. Apple also announced an updated line of Air Pods that will help users translate foreign languages

in real-time. That's kind of cool. The new line of Apple watches include a blood pressure monitor, among other health features. Today's product

announcements appear more evolutionary than revolutionary, you might say, failing to ease concerns that Apple is falling behind on the big hot item,

and that is A.I. Apple shares finished today's session down one and a half percent, as you see there.

[18:45:00]

Bob O'Donnell joins me now, founder, chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research. He was at that launch event today. All right. So, I feel like I've seen a

lot of these where the phone comes out. It's got a better camera. It's a little bit thinner. Battery lasts a little bit longer. I mean, it's not

revolutionary at all. I mean, what's happening at Apple?

BOB O'DONNELL, FOUNDER AND CHIEF ANALYST, TECHNALYSIS RESEARCH: Well, the story today was the iPhone Air, really, because it is really noticeably

thinner and lighter than other phones. Now, you know, it's two millimeters, right? That seems like nothing. But when you hold it in your hand, you

actually feel a difference.

And look, for iPhone people who are -- have had the same basic design since the iPhone 10, hey, this is something to celebrate, right? It's a little

bit different. And even the bigger phones are a little bit more robust. They put in what's called a vapor chamber to let them run hotter and

faster.

So, now, physically, you've got actually different types of designs in the iPhone. And that's, you know, for some people is interesting. Like you

said, in terms of the actual specs, they're modest in terms of the changes versus previous things. But it's about that physical design difference that

I think will resonate with some folks.

SCIUTTO: I mean, the issue is, do you immediately go out and buy a new iPhone or wait, you know, a generation or two? You know, that's -- I

suppose that's the question when it comes to their sales. One big question I have is, is Apple making progress on A.I. these days? Because, as you

know better than me, the impression is they're trailing a little bit.

O'DONNELL: Yes. Well, and they barely mentioned Apple Intelligence today. And I wasn't surprised by that. This was definitely a hardware focus. And

there are concerns they're falling behind. To Apple's credit, or I guess to address the concern, most people these days aren't really using a ton of

A.I. features on their phones just yet. So, there's this sense that Apple's got a little bit of a hall pass for perhaps another year or so. But

eventually, it is going to catch up to.

And to your previous question, look, no, if I've got a good iPhone, I'm content with it, I'm probably not going to jump out there unless I really

want that thinner, lighter phone. That iPhone era, I think, will attract some people. But for existing users, other than that, they're going to be

like, yes, when my screen breaks or something else happens, that's when I go replace it.

SCIUTTO: So, what's the Apple plan for tariffs, right? I mean, we've seen some small adjustments moving some of the manufacturing to India. Do they

have a bigger plan? Is it impacting earnings? Are there any real plans of moving significant iPhone production here to the U.S.?

O'DONNELL: Well, we're not going to see iPhone full production in the U.S. for a very, very long time because the supply chains are so enormously

complex. To move them would be very difficult. But one of the more interesting things that came out today was the fact that pricing really

didn't dramatically change. And in fact, Apple increased the amount of standard storage on these devices, which typically costs more money. So, in

an interesting way, they increased the capabilities, kept the prices generally the same. And that was kind of a relief because it was a concern

around what the tariffs would do.

But look, Apple's also playing a political game. Let's be clear, right? Tariffs right now are a nasty word, of course, within the U.S. government.

And they -- you know, they don't want to see companies raising prices. So, by doing what Apple did in a clever way probably did impact a little bit of

their profitability. We won't know until, you know, earnings come out a little bit later for the next quarter.

But all in all, I think they did a nice job of managing to keep things relatively stable when people expected them to go up and increase some

capabilities. So, they kind of hid things in an interesting way.

SCIUTTO: Bob O'Donnell, TECHnalysis, thanks so much for joining.

O'DONNELL: Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: Coming up on "The Brief," you've heard of the Time Person of the Year. Well, Time magazine unveiling its Kid of the Year. Who was picked and

why? The honoree is going to join us to tell our story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:00]

SCIUTTO: Time Magazine and Time for Kids has named Tejasvi Manoj as Kid of the Year. The 17-year-old was recognized for her initiative Shield Seniors,

which is intended to protect older adults from cyber scammers. There are lots of them. The project began after her own grandfather nearly fell for

such a scam last year.

The Federal Trade Commission says there has been a big jump in reported losses from those scams, saying eight times more seniors lost more than

$100,000 in just the last four years. The real number is likely much higher since not everyone knows who to reach out to when it happens.

Joining me now, Tejasvi Manoj. Thanks so much for coming on.

TEJASVI MANOJ, TIME KID OF THE YEAR 2025: Yes, hello. So, nice to meet you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, how does it feel? Kid of the Year. That's a pretty big deal.

MANOJ: I don't think I've fully processed it yet. It still feels so surreal, but honestly, I'm just so grateful and honored.

SCIUTTO: Yes, I understand. So, this idea, as I understand it, came to you when your grandfather nearly fell victim to scammers. Tell us how that

happened.

MANOJ: Yes. So, I was driving home with my father one day when we noticed like a lot of missed calls from my grandfather. So, we called him and

basically, he explained how he was almost about to send $2,000 actually to someone posing to be like a relative. And he was so ready to just send that

money. And then I -- but luckily, we caught him just in time. So, then I realized that if he was so ready to send the money, like how many other

people or how many other older adults would have done it?

And my grandfather was a very careful person. So, I knew that this was something that just didn't seem right for him. So, I just did -- I bought

home and I did a lot of research and I found out that this was a lot. This was a way bigger problem than I anticipated. And so, that's kind of how the

idea for Shield Seniors or the idea to do something to help all older adults, but also like my grandfather (INAUDIBLE).

SCIUTTO: So, I understand part of your goal here was just to make it simpler for seniors, because a lot of the tools or even who to reach out to

when you're scammed or someone tries to scam you was confusing. So, how does the -- how does Shield Seniors work then?

MANOJ: So, it's an online application where older adults can just come and they can -- you know, there's a tool where you can input screenshots of

text messages or e-mails and it will analyze whether it is fraudulent or not as well as tell you like (INAUDIBLE). There's also a A.I. chatbot in

which older adults can type their cybersecurity questions in and it will give very simplified responses and it will also educate them as well. And

then there's also there's a report section where older adults can report their crimes easily.

And the goal of Shield Seniors is to make older adults independent. We want them to feel secure in the internet. You know, we want them to make sure

that they're able to navigate the internet with confidence, with independence. And so, that was like a really big priority for me to make

sure that they're able to.

SCIUTTO: It's such a good idea to have the screenshot idea because so many times these were all targets of them, right? Different kinds of scams. They

look very professional, right? I mean, it's kind of hard. You're like, is that a real link? Is that is that a real e-mail? Is that a fake e-mail?

You're applying to colleges now. What's next?

[18:55:00]

MANOJ: What's next? So, you know, as you mentioned, I am working on my college apps right now. I'm trying to apply to some, you know, top colleges

in CS, major in CS, A.I., ML, specialize in like cyber security, you know.

And obviously, my -- right now like Shield Seniors is a huge priority to me. I never ever anticipated it becoming this big, but I'm so grateful. And

this is something that I definitely do want to continue. I do want to help as many people as I can. And then, who knows -- and then, I think I'll

continue trying to do, you know, tech for social good. I'll just continue trying to help as many people as I can. So --

SCIUTTO: Well, good luck. You're doing good work, Tejasvi. And congratulations.

MANOJ: Thank you so much. It was so nice to talk to you.

SCIUTTO: Congratulations to Tejasvi. Thanks so much for your company. I'm Jim Sciutto on Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay

with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:00]

END